Burner base for hot-water tanks



April 24, 1951 M. G. BURWELL BURNER BASE FOR HOT-WATER TANKS med April24,y 1947 I l INVENTOR,

Maurel 6r. Buf1/Veil ATTORNEY.

l Il lllll Il al l1 Il!!1IllllIIlllllllllllllllllIlIIillllllllllllllllllllilllin III r l|.IIIlllllllllIIIIIIIllllllll||l|||l||||||||||||||ll|llllllllllllllPatented Apr. 24, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,549,755 aBURNERBASE Foa Hor-WATER TANKS Maurel G. Burweu, columbus, ohioApplication April 24, 1947, Serial No. 743,547

The present invention deals with liquid heating apparatus, and hasparticular reference to a heater base upon which a hot water tank ispositioned, and is afforded direct heat for the purpose of elevating thetemperature of water or other liquids contained therein. d

The primary object of the invention is to provide a base structure,including a fuel burner, which is adapted to receive and support a hotwater tank of the type embodying a laterallyoffset side-arm heating coilwhich in normal operation serves to supply heat by convection flow tothe liquid contained within the tank.

It is another object of this invention to provide a burner mechanism forhot water tanks which is adapted to heat both the bottom Yof theassociated tank, and the side arm coil thereof, in order to moreefhciently utilize the heat given off from a quantity of fuel, and toquickly and efliciently heat avbodyI of water contained within theassociated hot water tank. Y

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a mechanism ofthe type described which is structurally simple, and is composed ofrelatively few and simple replaceable parts, thereby permitting thedevice to be installed in a quick and facile manner upon the ordinarytype of hot -water tank.

For a further understanding of thc-:present invention reference is madeto the following de,- scription and accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. -1 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken through animproved liquid heating assembly formed in accordance with the presentinvention;

Eig. 2 isV a vertical sectional view-taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken through the fuelburner and its associated fiame box which form an integral part of thebase structure; l

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along the line 4 4of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View of the fuel burner.Referring now to the drawing and to the single illustrative embodimentof the present invention disclosed therein, the numeral I refers to asubstantially cylindrical hot water tank of any suitable size, andhaving introduced therein a watersupplying inlet 2 and adischargejoutlet `3. These members are disposed in the normal mannerwithin the tank whereby cold water is introduced `at the lower end ofthe tank and heated water withdrawn substantially from the upper portionthereof. Preferably; the inner surface of the tank is lined with aceramic material 4,'which prevents rusting of the tank, when the same isformed from a metallic material, and the conse- 2 Claims. (Cl. 122-183)tively with the lower and upper region of the tank interior. Disposedadjacent the tank, in vertical alignment therewith and surrounding theside Varm coil 5, is a substantially circular ue 6 which functions todirect the heated gaseous products of combustion from the burner up-lwardly to ultimately be discharged through a suitable stack l. theassociated fiue 6 is a jacket of insulating ma terial 8 which serves toprotect the tank against undue heat loss. v

Disposed below the tank I and the iiue 6, and supporting the former is asubstantially cylindrical base generally designated by the numeral 9.More specifically, the base 9 comprises a circular side wall II), andvertically spaced upper and lower walls II and I2 respectively. Theupper wall II of the base 9 provides a shelf upon which the bottomflange I3 ofthe tank rests, and defines with the bottom wall I4 of thetank a heating chamber I5 disposed in direct contact with the bottom ofthe tank. At one side, the upper wall II of the base is cut away as atI6 to provide a passageway leading from one corner of the chamber I5 toa laterally offset exhaust chamber I?. The upper end of the exhaustchamber vII is` provided with a stub-conduit adapted to fit within thelower end of the ue 6 which extends longitudinally of the tank I.

Extending inwardly Vof the base through an opening vI9 formed in theside wall thereof, and disposed between the upper and lower walls, is atubular gas burner I9 which is provided substantially at its outer endwith a plurality of flame orifices 2.0. Disposed directly above and invertical registration with the flame orifices 2|) of the burner I9, is afiame box 2I which is adapted' to direct the flame issuing from vtheburner I9 upwardly into the heating chamber I5 disposed below the bottomof the tank I. The arne box 2| is formed in al generally prismatic orcylindrical configuration, and is provided with spaced inner and outerwalls 22 and 23 respectively, these walls being joined by integrallyformed and spaced webs 24, which -are flanged at their upper ends toprovide a lip from which the box is suspended within an opening formedin the upper wall I I of the base. The outer wall 23 of the boxis'extended on one of its sides to provide a dependent flange 25 inwhich is formed an opening adapted to'receive the outer vend of the gasburner I9, in order to support the sarn'e in a relatively xed positionwith respect to the box.`Av Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, it willbe seen that the lower wall I2 of the base is provided with an opening26 through which atmospheric air may pass inwardly of the chamber formedbetween the upper and lower walls. This opening 26 provides suicientdraft to direct the flame issuing from the burner I9 up- Wardly of theflame box and into the heating Enea-sing both the tank I and chamber lformed between the lower portion of the tank and the upper wall of thebase, and to ultimately direct the gaseous products of combustionupwardly through the flue 6 and around the heater coil 5, as indicatedby arrows in Fig. I. The space between the inner and outer walls 22 and23 of the flame box 2l, provides a passageway through which atmosphericair present within the chamber of the base may pass to insure completecombustion of the fuel within the heating chamber l5. Also, the air inpassing through this passageway will be pre-heated by striking the innerwalls of the ame box, and upon passage to the heating chamber l5 willcreate a draft around the open flame port of the box thereby directingthe flame issuing therefrom laterally through the heating chamber anddownwardly through the passageway i9 into the lower end of the flue 6.Referring particularly to Fig. 5 of the drawings, it will be seen thatthe initial mixture of air with the gaseous fuel accomplished exteriorlyof the base by means of air intake openings 25 formed in the breech endof the tubular burner I9.

In a preferred form, the burner head i9 is connected at its breech endwith a gas-ejecting nozzle 21 disposed at the end of a gas supplyingconduit 28. be provided with a manually controlled shut off valve 29,and may be tapped and provided with a pilot conduit 39 which isintroduced interiorly of the base through the side wall thereof, anddirected to the flame box 2| to provide a constant pilot light for themain burner I9. Also, the main gas conduit 28 is provided with athermostatically operated gas valve 3i, having a heat responsive element32 extending internally of the tank l at any suitable location therein.

In operation, the base 9 functions to provide a support for theassociated hot water tank, and the upper wall thereof forms a chamberwith the bottom of the tank adapted to directly receive side flanges ofthe tank; a bottom wall having an air intake opening therein and carriedby said side wall in spaced relation to said top wall and defining withsaid side and top Walls a substantially enclosed mixing chamber; agaseous fuel burner extending through said side wall and into saidmixing chamber; a re box depending from said top wall directly abovesaid burner for directing a flame issuing from said burner from saidmixing chamber to the bottom of a tank received within the open chamberdefined by said side wall and top wall; and means defining a fluepassage in said base and communicating, respectively, with said openchamber and the chamber in which the heat-transfer coil of said tank iscarried, whereby gaseous products of combustion emanating from saidburner may be directed from the bottom of said tank to the heat-transfercoil thereof.

2. Liquid-heating apparatus comprising a vertically arranged tank havinga laterally offset side arm heat-transfer coil and a bottom wall Theconduit 23 may advantageously bounded by a depending marginal edgeflange; a base supporting said tank and formed with an upstanding sidewall telescoping about the depending marginal edge ange of said tank anda horizontally disposed top wall arranged intermediate the ends of theside wall and supporting the margin edge flange of said tank, the topwall of said base dening with the bottom wall and depending marginaledge flange of said tank a substantially enclosed heating chamber, saidtop wall being formed with a ame port; a fue] burner positioned belowthe top wall of said base in alignment with the flame port formed insaid top wall; a vertically arranged open-ended conduit depending fromthe top wall of said base directly above said fuel burner for directingflames the flame from the gas burner i9 to supply heat to the bottom ofthe tank and to the water contained therein. In addition to this directcontact by the flame, the heat emanating from the hot gaseous productsof combustion ultimately passes from the heating chamber l5 by way ofthe laterally offset exhaust chamber i7 into the bottom of theassociated flue 6 which contains the spirally wound side arm coils 5,and additional heat is transferred to the liquid lthrough this coil.

In view of the foregoing it will be seen that the present inventionprovides both a useful and mechanically eicient heat transfer device forhot water heating systems, and is readily adaptable for use withpresently known and used hot water tanks having the ordina-ry side armheating'coil. Further, by nature of its construction the base may bereadily assembled or disassembled according to the needs of the user andrequirements of repair. The invention is further characterized by itsstructural simplicity, its economy of maintenance and manufacture, andits ease of installation.

I claim:

1. A burner base for a hot water tank of the type having a side armheat-transfer coil carried within a chamber disposed adjacent the tankand side flanges extendingbeyond the bottom of the tank, said basecomprising an upstanding side wall; a top wall extending perpendicularlyto said side wall a distance below the upper edge thereof, said sidewall and top wall defining an open chamber for the reception of thebottom issuing from said fuel burner to said heating chamber; anupwardly opening fiue pipe connection formed on said base in laterallyoffset relation to said tank, said base being formed with a passagewayextending from the top wall thereof to said flue pipe connection forconducting gaseous products of combustion emanating from said burner andintroduced within said heating chamber to said flue pipe connection; anda vertcally arranged flue pipe communicating at its lower end with theflue pipe connection of said base and enclosing the side arm heattransfer coil of said tank for conducting gaseous products of combustionemanating from said burner away from said base and in heat-transferrelation to the side arm coil of said tank.

MAUREL G. BURWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 315,713 Bunker Apr. 14, 18851,150,948 Laziny Aug. 24, 1915 2,029,337 Parker Feb. 4, 1936 2,041,683Ames May 26, 1936 2,102,800 Killmeyer Dec. 21, 1937 2,126,969 MorrowAug. 16, 1938 2,356,657 Davis Aug. 22, 1944 2,414,875 Horne Jan. 28,194'7 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 108,703 Australia Oct. 19,1939

